KEY POINTS:
Blame it on Superman because it was this caped superhero who first inspired me to become a journalist. Like most Asian parents, mum and dad had hoped for me, their only son, to become a doctor, lawyer or at least an accountant.
But even at 10, I remember
telling them that when I grew up I wanted to be a reporter. As a child, I was a big fan of Superman but, unlike most other kids who fantasised about becoming him, I fantasised about becoming Clark Kent the reporter.
Even back then, I thought he could do more to change the world with his pen and typewriter at the Daily Planet than as a superhero who wore underwear on the outside.
I have always loved stories; listening to and telling them. I loved it when my parents and grandparents told me tales of their childhood, the hardship during the war years and pleasures they got from simple things. And as a patrol leader in the Scouts, I enjoyed telling stories to my Scouts around the campfire.
Not long after I became a journalist, I realised how much impact news stories can have on the lives of others.
One story I worked on in the early 1990s involved a Catholic brother of the Franciscan Order who had been accused of sexually molesting a high school girl. And because I knew him personally, I had all his contact details.
Working for a tabloid newspaper then, I knew an interview with him would put me on the front page and that was all that mattered. After three days of ringing him every hour on the hour at his church and family home, I received a phone call from one of his family members. My friend, the Catholic brother who had once told me he always dreamt of becoming a Franciscan friar, had taken his own life. My story on his suicide and funeral did make page one but, for days after that, I contemplated letting my dream of being a journalist die.
But I am glad I did not because, along the way, I knew many stories I did also had positive outcomes for people. Like one in Christchurch, where a Hong Kong couple who did not read the fine print on their insurance policy were denied a payout after an accident left the man paralysed from the neck down.
After I ran their story and they took the matter to lawyers, the Insurance Ombudsman and other media, the insurance company paid them the full amount.
Having this column in the Herald has also taken my journey as a journalist to a different level, giving me an opportunity to report and critique matters in New Zealand. But every week, without fail, I receive emails and letters disagreeing with my views, and complaining about the lack of diversity of views on other ethnic groups and issues.
Here are a few from last week. Rudy Hsu: "You are getting lame lately ... As a spokesperson for the Asian community, you have missed out on one very important issue in the Sunday News about the police and their racist attack on an Asian boy."
Madge Kho: "Your columns would be more interesting if you touched on topics other than just issues concerning Asians in this country."
L. Fernandez: "A lot of what you say centres around the Chinese but why not include South Asians as well."
Ford Zheng: "To inflame discriminatory comments against China ... and the very fact this discrimination comes from the self-claimed speaker for the Asian community is almost unforgivable."
And then there are those who want to shut me up, like Han Sen: "I cannot stand your writing in the Herald so stop doing so, because you are disgrace to the Chinese community ... even local born and Singapore."
For the record, I am not and never have professed to be a spokesperson for anyone other than myself.
The beauty of living in a democracy is in having the right to free speech and expression, something I guess some immigrants are still not used to having.
Instead of whining from the sidelines and complaining about the lack of diversity of views, perhaps more people from the ethnic minorities could try to become part of the solution. Put up your hands to be journalists or at least encourage your kids to do so.
These are exciting times as more mainstream media organisations are opening up new opportunities for reporters from ethnic minority groups.
I am still living my dream as a journalist, a journey that has taken me from the jungles of Borneo to the palaces of kings and given me the opportunity to meet people ranging from presidents to prostitutes.
I can assure those who choose to go down the journalism path of a truly challenging and fulfilling life. Like the one I have enjoyed as a journalist for the past 20 years.
